A Simple Catholic Guide and Information about its Teaching, Prayers and Traditions

Saint Giles, Patron Saint of the Disabled

St. Giles was a seventh century Athenian of noble birth, whose spirituality and learning made him so popular that he left his home and sailed for France, longing for a life of prayer and solitude. Giles spent many years as a hermit alone with God. One day the King’s hunters shot a deer near his cave and mistakenly wounded Giles in the leg. He refused all treatment, but the king finally prevailed on him to found a monastery, of which he became abbot.

Saint Giles, who lived with a crippled leg, is the patron of the disabled, both mentally and physically, beggars and outcasts. He died with the words, “Now, Master, you may let your servant go in peace.” -LUKE 2:29